Just One More Step
by Summerica
Summary: The balance between Agito and Akito's personalities managed not to shatter under duress, but will they hold together once the pressure is lifted?


"Fuck." The pavement screeched against the boy's skates as he stopped to face the apartment complex. The same one he had passed an hour ago. When had he turned around?

"Where are we going?"

Agito remained silent as he looked skyward towards the sapphire clouds that blanketed the sky for miles. A few hesitant drops began to speckle the ground. _I just need a vantage point, that's all. I can't see a damn thing from here. There's no way I'm lo—"_

"Lost?"

He whipped around and pressed hard against his skates, propelling himself into the shadowed streets. The noise from the motor echoed against the building walls until the steady sheets of rain covered it. Agito leaned lower to the watery ground until the surrounding city became no more than a grey blur. His indigo hair whipped wildly against his ivory face and into his mouth as he whispered, "We're not lost. We're right here." _I'm right here, with you. This is our existence, nothing else matters._

"It's okay, you know… to ask for help."

"I don't _need_ any help, we're almost out! We're fucking fine!" Lower, faster… his fingertips skimming the water that his skates sprayed. Agito's eye shifted towards a nearby radio tower and he altered his course. _Up there I'll see it for sure, and we can get out of here._

"Out of where, Agito? Where are we _going_?"

_The sky. We'll be able to see from the sky, then we'll know._ Agito's skates connected with the rusted metal of the tower and thrust him upward, showering the air with sparks as he climbed higher. His muscles cramped and threatened to quit but his mind remained impervious to the violent spasms as he focused on the destination. _I'll create a path just for him, a road to the light, proof that he's not alone…_ Nearing the top, Agito grabbed onto a rail and leaped onto the platform with a last burst of speed. He shook away the water and glanced along the cityscape. Storm clouds encompassed all, dashing any proof that an outside world ever existed. "Fuck."

"Let's ask this once. Please." Agito sensed a presence and turned to find an ochre eye gazing back at him. "You don't have to do this."

"Akito…"

The smiling boy lifted his arm and swept the tips of his fingers across Agito's forehead, brushing away the tangled strands of drenched hair. Akito's fingers lingered on the boy's face for a moment before retreating back to his side. "Come on, let's go find—"

Agito recovered from the shock and hastily turned back to the overcast city before the other boy could finish. "There's no one but us, Akito." He tensed as slender arms draped around his shoulders and a chin pressed against his neck, sending shivers down Agito's body. Fingers twirled the hair by his neck as they moved upward to tug gently on his earlobes.

"There might be. We never looked."

Agito narrowed his eye and jerked away, startling the other boy and causing him to slip on the wet metal. _Fuck._ Forgetting his skates, Agito rushed forward and grabbed Akito's arms only to have his momentum violently pin the boy between himself and the tower. _Fuck_. He raised his head and for a second caught a glimpse of the boy wincing. _Fuck._ Akito quickly wiped the emotion from his face, however, and started laughing. _When did it become this way?_ Agito thought the other boy might be saying something, but he couldn't hear. _When did he start protecting me? When the hell did my road fall apart?_ He started to stand and pulled Akito up with him.

"We don't need other people," Agito said quietly, his voice rising with every word. "I'm here and I'll protect you. Forever. _Fuck_! I don't understand why you'd even think that.." His hands gripped Akito's arms tighter. "I'm your road, your bridge!"

Akito kept a smile on his face, but only a shadow of the former. His eye drifted down and fixated on the other boy's collarbone. Akito let his head fall forward until it rested on Agito's chest. He stayed there, pressed against the rabid beating of the boy's strained heart. After a while, he raised his head and leaned against the tower. "Even the strongest bridges need supports."

"Like hell!" As Agito yelled, his nails drove deep into the flesh of Akito's arms and blood seeped out, quickly dyeing the wet shirt crimson as the boy cried out in pain. Realizing what he had done, Agito froze. Waves of regret instantly filled his mind as blood streamed down Akito's arms like burgundy ribbons before dripping onto the matching metal and mixing with the rain. The world seemed in slow motion as Agito backed away from the other boy. "Akito, I…" He could only watch as the boy fell to his knees, nursing his injured arms. _I never meant to hurt you. _His thoughts raced, trying to find some kind of justification for his existence. Had he helped Akito even once? _I exist to protect you, Akito, so when…?_

"When did I start hurting you?"

The words passed his lips without realization. His head dropped, letting his azure hair cover the tears that threatened to overflow. Agito systematically shut down his senses until he became suspended in his own vertigo. _I will guard him._ He could not see Akito crawl forward; he could not hear his name being called as he moved to the edge of the tower's balcony. _Even if it's from myself._

"Agito!"

_Live strong, Akito._ Agito leaned back and pressed against his wheels, careening himself into the sky.

"AGITO!"

The boy grinned at the grey city before closing his eye. He felt the wind roar past and pull his clothes taut as he started to fall. _I'm sorry. There was so much more I wanted to give, but I won't stand to hurt you. Maybe you needed me at one point, but now… Akito. If some day you look back, don't remember me, just remember what you were worth to me. You were everything to live for… and you were so much to die for._

"I love you, Akito."

His words lost themselves in the breeze and Agito sighed. _Well, fuck. I guess this is it._ He moved to stretch his limbs when he felt wet arms curl around his waist. He jerked to a halt and heard cloth ripping before being tossed onto the cold metal of a lower platform. His eye snapped open to see a frightened Akito dangling hundreds of feet in the air by the few remaining threads attaching his pants to the straps supporting him. As the strings snapped, Agito lurched forward and with one liquid motion grabbed Akito and pulled him onto the platform, once again losing his balance and falling backwards. The other boy landed next to him, one arm draped over Agito's chest.

Both boys remained on the floor with no plans of moving. Agito absently stared up into the unrelenting rain, subconsciously relieved that no thoughts passed through his mind while he lingered in this moment, out of time, out of pain, out of awareness… He hadn't noticed how the other boy had been staring at him until Akito spoke.

"Please don't do that."

Without speaking, Agito turned his head to face Akito. The shadows made it difficult to discern the boy's emotion, but based on the voice's uneven tone, Agito did not doubt that he had managed to hurt Akito once again.

"There are others now, Agito. You don't have to shield me anymore."

Agito felt like his body collapsed into itself. He turned back to the sky. "I see." His breath came in ragged gulps as though he were drowning under the weight of Akito's words. "I'm glad… you don't need me."

"No! You don't understand." Akito brought himself closer, his lips brushing against Agito's ear. "I meant that I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to be my strength for so long." The boy turned Agito's head back to face him. "I'm sorry you've had to carry me all this time… and thank you."

"Akito…" Agito's eye drifted down to the bloody patches on the other's shirt, but Akito lifted the boy's chin until their faces almost touched.

"When we left the trailer, I thought, 'We're finally free,' but when I thought some more, I realized that nothing had really changed." Akito clenched his fist and continued. "All my life, I've shifted everything bad to you. I realized our cage consisted of… me. This whole time you kept trying and trying to lift what I had chained down in fear."

Agito was speechless as tears began to form in other boy's eye. He moved to wipe them away, but Akito grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers with a small smile. "I want to know this pain that comes from caring, too. I… I want to be strong so we can carve our road together."

Finished, Akito stood and moved over to the rail. After a brief look at the city, he sat down and let his legs dangle freely over the edge. Unsure of what to do, Agito scooted over to join the other boy. It seemed as though every passing minute made it more difficult for him to respond. _You tell me to play neither offense nor defense and expect me to run out to the field knowing my position. Fuck, I don't even know which team I'm on._

After some time, the supply of rain began to exhaust itself and a cool wind swept through the city. The collected water on the rooftops glowed golden as the setting sun filtered down from behind the dispersing clouds. Half asleep from the surrounding stillness, Agito felt he had exhausted his mental resources when he noticed the other boy was shivering, and suddenly he understood.

_I am so, **so** fucking stupid._

Agito reached out his arm and pulled the boy closer. _Somewhere along the line, I forgot. _Akito curled his arms around Agito's waist and rested his head on the other's shoulder. _The path where he can smile freely… it doesn't need to wait for a destination as long as he keeps moving._ With a new determination of his own, Agito gave in to the beckoning call of sleep.

"…Ito."

_N'huh?_

"Yo, Agito!"

_Mm…_

"Sheesh. Come on, he's _asking_ for it."

_So damn loud…_

"Ikki, I don't think that's a good—"

"THE FUCK?!" Agito leapt up as his left eye exploded in stinging pain. Clutching at his eye patch, he caught a glimpse of a sniggering Itsuki. "Fucking piss-crow!" He made a wild jab at the boy but it was easily dodged.

"Psh, that's what you get for making me late for dinner. We had to look all over the damn city for you. I'll snap that stupid thing again if you don't hurry the hell up." He started to laugh again when he was suddenly pushed forward, with an annoyed Ringo standing behind him.

"We'll just be waiting, then." She grabbed Itsuki's arm and began forcibly dragging him back to the house despite vehement protests.

Cursing under his breath, Agito tried to regain his composure. He surveyed his surroundings and realized he must have accidentally fallen asleep at the playground near the Noyamano household. He sat down on a slide and attempted to massage the feeling back into his eye as the faint sound of laughter filled his head. "You could have _warned_ me, Akito."

"Hee… but I was sleeping too, remember?"

"…I'm sorry I let your eye get hurt."

"S'okay. I meant what I said."

Agito sighed and stood up, watching Itsuki and Ringo's retreating backs fade into the shadows of dusk. He made a motion to follow, but stopped himself.

"What's wrong?"

_Nothing._ He reached up and switched the placement of his eye patch. _Nothing's wrong, because I trust in the road we'll create._

"Let's go, Akito."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This turned out _completely_ different than what I had planned… twice, actually. I kept falling asleep while writing because of a fever and I _think_ I ended up having that actual dream. When I went to edit it the next day, I kind of thought, "What the hell…?" because I honestly couldn't explain where most of the story came from. It's like when Coleridge wrote _Kubla Khan_…except, you know, without the opium. Oh well, I think it's a touching idea that those two would share dreams.


End file.
